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Winpisinger Center Receives Generous Donation

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Thu. November 15, 2012

The estate of Helen Watkins, the wife of former IAM General Vice President George Watkins has made a generous donation of $20,000 to the IAM William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center. George and Helen Watkins were married for 61 years and were both active in civic and charitable organizations. Together, they created a Living Trust that envisioned donations to the organizations that they had supported once both had passed away. George died in 1993 and Helen passed away in June, 2012.

George Watkins started working for the IAM in 1935. He became a Business Representative in 1946, a Grand Lodge Representative in 1950 and he served as a General Vice President from 1959 until he retired in 1973.

George and Helen Watkins remained active throughout their retirement and set up the Living Trust as a way to support the work of the organizations they believed in. The bequest to the Winpisinger Center, which opened eight years after George retired, shows that the Watkins’ stayed active and cared deeply about supporting the union’s mission. The Watkins asked that their donation “be used for the improvement of their curriculum and/or facilities as those charged with the responsibility therefore would believe appropriate.”

“We are proud and grateful that George and Helen Watkins have remembered the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center,” said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger. “It shows the pride and deep affection we all have for our union and for the Center which has taught so many IAM members how to be good trade unionists.”

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